Dassault inks massive 325k sq. ft. lease in Waltham

French software giant Dassault Systèmes has inked a massive lease for up to 325,000 square feet of office and lab space in Waltham, the largest leasing transaction in Greater Boston this year.

The new deal will initially consolidate 800 Dassault employees already in Massachusetts and other locations to 175 and 185 Wyman Street, owned by property manager and developer Hobbs Brook Management of Waltham. Dassault first entered the Massachusetts market in 1997 when it acquired 3D product-design software maker SolidWorks Corp. of Concord for around $316 million.

The move to Waltham will go in phases, with Dassault first taking on around 211,000 square feet at 175 Wyman St. by mid-2011. The company said it “may grow into 185 Wyman Street thereafter,” but did not give details about whether that space has been formally leased already.

The announcement also is a blow to the ownership group of Yale Properties USA, Divco West Properties Inc. and Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board, which together own the Cross Point Towers in Lowell, one of the two locations to be vacated by Dassault in light of its new lease. The other location is the 440,000 square-foot office building at 300 Baker Avenue in Concord, the former Solidworks headquarters now owned by Normandy Partners.

On Sept. 6, some $86 million in debt came due on the Cross Point properties. The Boston Business Journal reported in an Aug. 13 story that the loan was slated to fall into default if the property’s owners were unable to come up with the funds due or at least modify the loan, which was originated by Greenwich Capital, a unit of RBS Securities, in 2005. Attempts to learn more about those negotiations were unsuccessful this week.

Dassault said it was making the move to having already “outgrown” its spaces in Concord and Lowell.